Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Deer Hunting => Topic started by: Elkhound on October 16, 2012, 01:13:11 PM
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Sorry, this will be a long story, but a good one. This past weekend was one of the most awesome 2.5 days of my life! My daughter passed her hunter education course this summer and it was her first hunting trip with me. She is 10 years old and she is my oldest child......she has wanted to go hunting for a few years and this was our time to see what she could do. She was armed with her new youth model Savage .243 and ready for the long drive to the dry side of the state. Opening day provided us with many deer sightings, with two separate setups, but either the deer wasn't a legal buck, or there just wasn't enough time to get her a proper setup.....I was starting think that it was going to be a miracle to get her on a legal deer with enough time to get her calm and steady on the shooting sticks. She went through every nervous emotion on each setup....and I was feeling like it was going to be a lot of the same going forward. I was only able to take her hunting Saturday through midday Monday....not a lot of time! Sunday afternoon we headed out to an area of the property that we had access to hunt in which a fellow member of our hunting party had jumped a legal buck earlier in the day. We started walking and about 50 yards into our walk, I happened to look to my left to see what appeared to be animals bedded on the opposite side of a draw.......it was three bucks, and one looked to be really nice! We ducked down in the grass and I ranged them at 398 yards....way too far for my daughter to shoot with her 9 power scope with a case of the buck fever jitters....and a stiff wind. Luckily the wind was in our faces!!! The deer had no idea we were there and the grass was long enough for us crawl through. I dropped my pack, took her rife, she took the shooting sticks, and I showed her how to belly crawl. We cut the distance by 80 yards, but could still only see the neck and head of the larger buck. I was not going to shoot....I had to get her the shot. We made it to the first draw where we could stand and walk around to the backside of the next hill between us. We climbed and slowly looked over but we dropped a little in elevation so I could not see over the next hill and see the bucks....so we climbed higher on that finger ridge and I was able to see they were still there......and the wind was still perfect...strong, noisy, and in our faces! We slowly climbed down to the bottom of the next draw and I had to decide to crest over the hill opposite the side of the draw that the deer were on, or do we walk down and sneak around the bottom of ridge...I decided to walk around since it wasn't far. Peeked around the corner and slowly stood up above the long grass to see four bucks bedded down, and the heads of some does in the middle of them. The biggest buck was bedded at the head of the draw and facing away from us. There were no deer facing our direction at the moment....and the wind was perfect. I snuck back around the corner and got both of us ready....took off the sling for her rifle, got the shooting sticks...and showed her where to aim since she still only had a neck and head shot, but this time is was 120 yards away. We snuck back around the corner and I had her look at the animals through the binos and them look without them for her to get her orientation. I got her rifle and shooting sticks setup and had her look at the animals through the scope. I was tough because the grass was tall and she is so small that she was unable to kneel or sit and still see the animals through the scope....she started getting stressed out and quivering so I stuck my leg out like a bench and she sat on my leg like a chair...she could now see the big buck through the scope, but the other legal buck had gotten up and walked between us and the bigger buck and bedded down. Now there was no room for error...she had to shoot it in the neck or head.....over the other bucks back.....there was just a little of the body visible behind the closer buck. I really wanted her to get the bigger of the two. She began to get nervous about the noise of the gun when she shoots and I told her she won't even notice (I should have remembered to have ear protection on our hunt!!). I'm watching the buck....talking with her while she is getting ready.....she is shaking......and I watch her quivering finger rest on the trigger. I tell her to just breathe and squeeze the trigger when she is ready.......then it happened.......the boom of the gun and the head of the bedded buck drops below the grass. I turn to her.......my mouth wide open....look at her eyes which are wide open....she is covering her ears. She starts to panic that she is deaf....I told her it will soon go away and that she just shot a buck......"you just shot a buck.......on my, you just shot a buck!!!" I looked back at the deer and none of them even moved.....I grabbed my gun.....rested on the shooting sticks....looked through the scope, and the buck that was bedded closer to us, stood up and looked right at me. Crosshairs on the base of the neck, and boom.......he dropped straight back into his bed. Luckily I told my daughter to cover her ears before I shot......I looked at her and said "we just shot two bucks.....we just shot two bucks!!!" This time she smiled and almost started hyperventilating....she was excited. Still, none of the other deer moved.......so we slowly gathered our stuff.....and then the does stood up. We stood up in the cow trail we were on and the deer just stood and looked at us.....two more legal bucks in the bunch. Finally, they started off up the draw and we watched as the other bucks stopped and turned to look at us one more time...skylined....200 yards away.....seemed like they wanted to take in the sight as well.....it was amazing. When I walked up to my daughter's buck, I was so damn excited, and proud...I have to say I did well with tears when I saw her walk up on it and she was smiling and saying "Oh my gosh......oh my gosh......THAT IS HUGE!" It is the biggest buck our camp has ever taken on this property both in antler size and body size. It was a pig! This all occurred right before dark and the first person I could get on the scene happen to be my dad and when I told him that "she did it" and told him she shot a buck.....he about lost it....he was so excited....his first grandchild to hunt...and to get a buck as well. He had yet to even see the animal! The rest of the night was filled with excitement.....when we got back to camp the fun started and we were up quite late telling the tale. To top it off, it turned out that our camp shot 4 bucks that day.....an unbelievable day! I get a little emotional just retelling the story. I just had to share with all of you!
P.S.- The picture my daughter took of me and my buck shows her buck and rifle lying in the grass over my right shoulder....pretty cool.
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:tup: Perfect!
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Wow, great buck, Congratulations! :tup:
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:tup:
Super cool..when the kids get to be hunting age our own success doesnt really matter anymore.
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nice bucks. congratulations. my daughter is almost mature enough to start hunting and i cant wait.
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That is very, very cool. Lifetime memories.
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That is very, very cool. Lifetime memories.
:yeah: :tup:
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Big smile reading this one. Congrats to your daughter and congrats to you as well :tup:
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Thats Awesome,Congrats to you and your daughter.
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It doesn't get any better than that! Congratulations to both you and your daughter. She looks ecstatic! :tup:
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Awesome!! It doesn't get any better than that.
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Awesome!!!! :tup:
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:tup: congrats!!!!
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:tup: :tup:
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nice bucks way to go!!!
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Nice buck! Glad you and your daughter are enjoying hunting together.
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AWESOME!! :tup: Couple very nice looking buck there :drool: Great story and pics! Congrats!
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That is so cool, congrats.
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It doesn't get any better than that! Congratulations to both you and your daughter. She looks ecstatic! :tup:
:yeah: :yeah: :yeah: :tup:
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Wow...that buck is so big and she is so tiny. Absolutely great picture and her smile tells it all. What a memorable day for the both of you. :tup:
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Great story! Very happy for you and your daughter. Congrats to the both of you!
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Congrats! I just have to ask though...when your daughter took that pic, did she look like she was embarrased for you that your buck was so much smaller than hers? :chuckle: (just kidding of course, am a little jealous of both of you) :tup:
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Atroxus- It was funny....you could tell she didn't want me to feel bad or something.....every time we would look through the pictures with the rest of the hunting party, she would always make it a point....when looking at my buck....to say "that's a real nice buck too." Of course the rest of camp wasn't so nice! :)
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that is awesome young lady i cant wait to show my daughter your picture, maybe it will light a serious fire in her, she says she wants to hunt but we shall see..... :tup:
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WOW Thats so cool ...congrats to her ... :tup: :tup: :yeah:
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PRICELESS!!!!!!
That is Dandy buck
Very cute daughter she is very photogenic.
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Awesome!! Congrats to you both.
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Awesome daughter and dad team! Right on. :tup:
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Atroxus- It was funny....you could tell she didn't want me to feel bad or something.....every time we would look through the pictures with the rest of the hunting party, she would always make it a point....when looking at my buck....to say "that's a real nice buck too." Of course the rest of camp wasn't so nice! :)
That is awesome, I know those will be lifetime memories for you both. :) I am looking forward to when I can get my son out hunting with me but I have a bit to wait still, he is only 3.
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Her brother will have a lot to live up to.....according to her......he is 7 and is getting a little itchy to get out there as well!
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That's awesome. I just love seeing the success of our youth. Good job on getting her hooked and congrats on a great hunt. :tup:
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Good job!
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10yr old girl with more success than most WA hunters :tup: love it!
Big kudos to dad too, good stuff :tup: kids need more dad time these days.
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Great to see more little ones participating. Congrats to both of you.
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That was amazing! I cant wait to go with my son and see his smike light up like hersO0
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
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Super awesome story. Even the head on that deer looks giant next to her body. And what an awesome hunt to be able share. I've carried a weapon hunting with my dad for 15 years and we haven't ever done that. We've watched each other shoot a few, but mostly we've been off by ourselves and the other guy just shows up for the packing portion. I'm jealous that your daughter got to experience that on her first hunt. That's really cool stuff. I hope she was the coolest 4th or 5th grader in class when she got to school this week.
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Very cool congrats :IBCOOL:
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It just doesn't get any better than that! Thanks for sharing and congrats to both! :tup:
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Congrats,
She is beautiful and the deer are both awesome. Nice story.
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great job you two :tup:
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Sweeeeeeet!
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:IBCOOL: :IBCOOL: :IBCOOL: :IBCOOL: AWESOME
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:tup: :tup: :tup: :tup: :tup: :tup:
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The smile says it all!! Way to go Dad, thats what it's all about.Congratulations young lady,very well done.
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That is so awesome!!!! Congrats u two!!!!
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Good on you Sir! Way to get her out there. Keep her at it. Great bucks.
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Absolutely Awesome. What a proud father you must be...
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I was excited for you as I was reading. I cant wait for my youngest son (9y/o) to accompany me to the field with his own license & gun.
Great memories for sure.
:tup: :tup: :tup: Congrats to you both :tup: :tup: :tup:
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now that's what hunting is all about. can't wait for my kids to get older! Congrats :tup:
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What a hunt and what a way to start your daughter hunting! Way to go dad! :tup:
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Congrats! That's the way a hunt should end with a child and her father! Both of you will remember that for the rest of your lives.
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Awesome! I'll have to show my 9 year old this tomorrow. He has been out with me this year finally showing more interest in doing hunter safety. :tup:
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That's what its all about right there. Great story. Congrats to you and your daughter.
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:yike: Ha Ha even better when you both can score big. Big bucks good memories and Laughs. Good job sir.
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Awesome story...thanks for sharing that moment with us. :tup:
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Congrats to both of you. That is a memory that will exist in memory for both of you for ever. I look forward to being able to share memories like that myself one day. :IBCOOL:
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Congrats to the both of you, nice bucks.
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Chad,
That is awesome!!!!! good for you and your daughter! best post I have read on here in quite some time.
Todd
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Great deer tell her congrats for me. I still remember my daughter first deer when she was 10 like it was yesterday. Now she has 5 deer in 4 years she got drawn for second deer this year. Great job and very nice buck.
Rich
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That Buck is bigger then my brothers late mule deer permit from last year!! Congrats to the little hunter!! :tup:
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That is awesome! What a special moment that will last forever! Good for you guys!!!!!!
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Congrats to both of you! I am loving seeing all the youth pictures on here this year!
